I-I'd love to hear from you
by captainpezberry
Summary: What really happened when Paige listened to the voicemail in 5x07? Nobody knows but I like to think it went a little something like this...


With a towel on her head and one wrapped around her body, Paige entered her room with a heavy sigh. The shower had helped but it wasn't gone. The vision of the rat still flashed in her mind. She had tried to sleep it off. She had tried to avoid it by avoiding stares and questions at school and staying home. Nothing was helping. She was still shaken. She wasn't sure how long it would take. Maybe she would never go back to school.

She plopped down on her bed with a thud. Her eyes closed and she drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Her head rolled to the side and she saw her phone on her bedside table. She sat up and scooted over to it, reaching it to pick it up, and turning it on. Her parents were out of town so they didn't know she had stayed home. She had decided to leave her phone off all day to avoid calls from anyone wondering where she was. But now she wondered if her mom had called so she powered it up and waited to see what her phone had to offer.

Immediately the chimes of notifications started going off. She cleared out the ones for her texts. She would read those later. She scrolled a few new emails but most of them were spam. Then the little indicator that she had a new voicemail popped up and she half smiled as she pressed to dial her inbox. Probably her mom checking on her and making sure she ate dinner.

"Hey, Paige. It's me" Her face dropped and she sat up straighter. Her heart immediately started to pound against her ribs. She knew who it was instantly. She could pick Emily's voice out of a crowd.

"I heard what happened to you, in the locker room. I should have called you sooner." Paige's mouth was suddenly dry. She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath at the words Emily left her. This was the last thing she had expected and yet it felt almost normal like she should have known Emily would call.

"I'm sorry if this is because of what you told me about Mona. Which, I think it was." Paige swallowed hard and bit her bottom lip to keep herself composed. She sounded so upset. This wasn't her fault at all.

"I'm sorry I put you in the middle of all this." Paige shook her head against the phone and had to stop herself from whimpering. Her voice just sounded so damn broken just then. She wanted to cry out that it wasn't Emily's fault. She wanted to wrap her arms around her and tell her it was all going to be okay.

"If you need anything, please call me" Paige nodded. She was going to call. "Listen, even if you don't need anything, just call. Please." Paige smiled a little bit at that. She was going to call her right now. She hated the thought of Emily worrying about her. She was going to give her a call and do her best to comfort the girl who was sorry for absolutely nothing. She stood up and started digging for clothes as she listened to the rest of the voicemail.

"Okay. I love-" Paige stopped what she was doing. She straightened up and looked to the side as if trying to look through the phone and at Emily to make sure she had heard right. Her heart was racing so fast now she felt it might come through her chest. Emily paused and she stopped breathing. She had just heard correctly. Emily had almost just said it.

"I-I'd love to hear from you. Bye." The message ended and Paige pulled the phone from her ear. She stared at it and as the little voice asked her what she wanted to do with the message she quickly tapped the number to repeat it. She listened again. She heard every word so clearly the first time and now it was all muffled. She waited. Her breathing sped with every word until she heard it again "I love-".

Paige swallowed and repeated it again. And again. Her mouth grew dry. Then her knees grew shaky. She gripped onto her dresser and listened. Each time it was almost as if she could heard Emily breathing out "you" before realizing what she had done. Finally Paige let a tear come from her eyes and she whispered "I love you too, Em."

It was a whirlwind from then on. She pulled clothes on so fast she wasn't even sure she had the right parts in the right holes. Somehow she ended up covered properly before she was thundering down the stairs three at a time, bursting through the front door, and leaping off her porch. She was going to grab her bike but she forgot. As soon as her feet hit the grass they had taken on a mind of their own and started slapping the sidewalk on the familiar path toward Emily's house.

She wasn't even winded when she reached the front porch where so many memories had unfolded. She was smiling as she reached the front door and her hand pounded on the wood frame before she came to a complete stop. It took too long for an answer to come. In reality it was only a few seconds but to Paige it felt like an eternity.

"Paige?" Momma Fields greeted the girl with a surprised look that quickly turned to a smile. "Nice to see you. Come on in-" But before she could finish Paige was running passed her and up the stairs.

"Em" Paige huffed out as soon as she burst through the bedroom door.

"Paige!?" Emily's eyes went wide and she sat up a bit more on her bed where she had been perched reading. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Paige said with a smile and moved toward the bed.

"You're panting. And sweating. Did you just run here?" Emily scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up now, concern on her face. "What happened?"

"Nothing" Paige shook her head, the smile on her face never wavering.

"Then why did you run?" Emily asked with her arms crossed over her chest, her brows still knitted in concern.

"I had to talk to you."

"I have a phone" Emily whispered.

"I had to see you" Paige corrected and let out a soft laugh at herself.

Emily just shrugged and stared at the girl in front of her, waiting for her to explain. "Well?"

Paige nodded and looked at Emily with that look in her eyes as if she were the greatest thing she had ever seen in her life. And she was, to be honest. Nothing compared to Emily. She drew in a deep breath and her smile grew as her chin dipped for a moment. She only looked away for a split second before her eyes lifted again and she found Emily still looking at her "It's okay. What happened was because of a choice I made, okay?"

"Paige" Emily let out a sigh and shook her head when she realized what this was about "No, I shouldn't have asked that of you."

"I didn't have to say anything. I did it for you." Paige was almost whispering now but still held her smile. "Em, you know I'd do anything for you even if that means helping Ali."

"It was still wrong of me to ask" Emily frowned and looked at her feet. "I am so sorry. I should have respected your wishes and kept you out of this."

"I put myself in it a long time ago." Paige whispered and reached out to take Emily's chin in her fingers. She pulled up until their eyes met again, her smile now changing to the one that she saved only for Emily "I will always be in this because of you. Because I don't know how to be without you."

"Paige" Emily shook her head "Please don't let yourself get into anymore trouble."

Paige just smiled and ran her thumb along her chin where she held onto it before laughing softly "Em, I'm in trouble because of you. And I couldn't ask for anything better."

"You're crazy" Emily whispered, still pleading with her.

"About you" Paige whispered before leaning in to place the softest kiss against her lips.

Emily let it happen. She didn't fight it and when their lips met she felt her heart leap into her throat. She smiled against her lips and let herself return the kind gesture. In that moment, that simple, short, but perfect moment she realized there was no fighting it. Paige was her destiny.


End file.
